15 best college football moments of 2016

13. Les Miles falls one second short

A last-second play not only changed the course of Auburn and LSU’s respective seasons but had a massive impact on the long-term trajectory of both programs.

Both Les Miles and Gus Malzahn entered the September 24 matchup between Auburn and LSU squarely on the hot seat. Miles barely escaped dismissal the season before and LSU had already fallen out of title contention after starting the season ranked fifth, while Auburn was off to a disappointing 1-3 start.

The game got off to a sluggish start, with Auburn opening up a 9-7 lead at the half. Despite failing to find the end zone, Auburn kicked three more field goals to open up an 18-13 advantage with 2:56 to go.

LSU’s offense suddenly came to life and drove down to the red zone with time running out. As the clock hit triple zeros, D.J. Shark made an acrobatic catch in the back of the end zone to set off a raucous celebration on the LSU sideline.

However, referees reviewed the play and determined that LSU did not get the snap off on time, as it only had one second on a running clock after committing an illegal shift the play before. That gave Auburn a dramatic 18-13 victory, as the celebration immediately shifted to the other sideline.

Miles was fired less than 24 hours later after falling one second short, which seemed somewhat fitting given his history of mismanaging the clock. It’s one of the greatest what-ifs of the college football season, as perhaps Malzahn would have been the dismissed head coach had the play counted.